On the night of August 5, at 9:16 pm, an online content platform named ‘Interviews Nepal’ posted an image on Facebook featuring Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel alongside his wife Susmita Adhikari. The post was shared during an acute cooking gas shortage across the country. It carried a fictional dialogue intended to mock the government’s failure: ‘Sasmit: What does a gas tree look like?’

The uploaded image quickly spread across social media channels as a satirical meme. However, the image was not recent. It was a screenshot extracted from a video recorded during Pokharel’s election campaign some five months ago. Similar repurposed visual materials are frequently used across Nepali digital spaces to criticise the government or the ministers.

When violent clashes occurred between two groups in Sunsari recently, another post featuring the same image appeared on ‘The Nepali Fever’ page. It read: ‘Sasmit! What is happening in Madhesh? Is there a Nepal outside Kathmandu as well?’ By the time of writing, the post had gathered 899 reactions, including 755 ‘haha’ responses. On July 30, at 6:03 pm, a page titled ‘Troll Nuwakot’ published a similar image.

During the Tribhuvan University MBS question paper leak incident, the same image was used with the text: ‘Sasmit! What does a paper leak actually mean?’ A Facebook page named ‘Psycho Nepal’, which commands over 421,000 followers, shared a post stating: ‘Our school madam used to set question papers sitting right in front of us, but they never leaked, Sasmit.’ The comment section beneath the post was filled with similar memes using Adhikari’s picture.

At first glance, such a post may appear to be merely mocking Minister Pokharel. But, more subtly, such trolling is rooted in the same patriarchal mindset that seeks to belittle women, portray them as weak and ridicule them. This is not the first instance of women being subjected to digital trolling or attempts to undermine them online. According to UN Women, women around the world face various forms of online abuse, including cyberbullying, hate speech, trolling, online threats, revenge porn, sexually explicit content created through AI-generated deepfakes and character assassination. The issue is also highlighted in the UN Women's FAQs report published on November 13.

Across these digital platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram, the memes portray Adhikari as intellectually incompetent. Variations include captions like: ‘Sasmit, how far is Sudurpashchim? Is it west of Thankot?’, ‘Sasmit, the ATM machine drops money so easily, why do people go to work all day?’, ‘Sasmit, do cows produce milk or does the dairy?’, and ‘Sasmit, can’t we collect gold from the Sunkoshi river and distribute it to the poor?’

Though the primary target of public dissatisfaction remains the performance of the government, online users persistently choose Adhikari’s image to express their frustration.

During the parliamentary election campaign, Pokharel drove a vehicle while Adhikari asked him questions regarding law, politics, society, and current affairs, to which Pokharel responded. Following the election, those video frames were isolated and paired with absurd questions designed to undermine Adhikari’s perceived intelligence.

On August 4, at 10:06 pm, a page titled ‘Sad Sarkar Pro Max’ posted an edited image where Pokharel’s face was replaced with former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s. In the edit, Adhikari asks, ‘Sasmit! When will the discussion about our picture end?’ Dahal’s character responds, ‘After death.’

Rights activists argue that these social media trends should not be dismissed as harmless humour. Sabitri Gautam, a prominent women’s rights activist, stated that while the content appears to be political critique, its underlying intention is to target female intellectual capability.

“Citizens have every right to question and criticise the government, and Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel must be held accountable,” said Gautam. “However, targeting his wife instead of him frames women as creatures lacking basic intelligence.”

Kabita Bahing, an advocate and women’s rights activist, said that while meme culture is a modern form of expression, it frequently lacks gender sensitivity.

“Memes are increasingly used to spread hate based on class, gender, caste, physical appearance, skin colour, and sexual orientation,” said Bahing. “This stems from internalised toxic masculinity. Women remain an easy target, and social conflicts are routinely reduced to gendered or caste-based attacks.” She added that society must look beyond the memes themselves and examine the patriarchal mindset driving such digital toxicity.

Political analyst and researcher Sucheta Pyakuryal described such online trolling as a clear reflection of structural patriarchy. “Nepali society remains deeply patriarchal and misogynistic, consistently directing attacks toward women,” said Pyakuryal. “Trolling Susmita instead of focusing on Sasmit is a direct product of this mindset. However, those involved in creating and presenting such campaign materials should have evaluated how these portrayals would impact women’s public image beforehand.”

Youth campaigner Monika Niraula expressed similar concerns, stating that the content is inherently sexist. “I did not find these memes funny because Susmita is the one being continuously ridiculed,” said Niraula. “Her intellectual capacity is being openly questioned. I think it’s misogynistic.”

Niraula observed that female partners of public figures have historically faced disproportionate criticism in Nepal. She cited the example of Arzu Rana Deuba, who is frequently blamed for the political decisions of her husband Sher Bahadur Deuba, the former prime minister.

“She may have her own shortcomings, but the narrative that Deuba's failures are entirely down to her simply isn't fair,” said Niraula.

Political history in Nepal contains previous instances where female figures were targeted with unverified claims to damage political reputations. In May 2013, a monthly magazine named Crime Today published a cover story labelling then CPN (Maoist) leader Hisila Yami as the ‘most corrupt woman in South Asia’.

Following the publication, Yami filed a criminal defamation lawsuit under the Defamation Act against the magazine’s Managing Director Ratna Maya Lama, Editor FR Dahal, Publisher LS Lama, and Indreni Offset Press that printed the magazine. On October 16, 2014, Judge Indra Bahadur Karki of the Kathmandu District Court ruled in favour of Yami, concluding that the news story was published with malicious intent to damage her reputation. The court ordered each defendant to pay a fine of Rs1,000 and compensation of Rs1,000.

Despite the judicial ruling confirming the story was false, online misinformation regarding the claim resurfaced years later. On September 7, 2020, Surya Bahadur Thapa, who was serving as the press advisor to then prime minister KP Sharma Oli, shared a social media post claiming that The New York Times had published a special investigative report in 2013 labelling Yami as the most corrupt woman in Asia. A fact-check published by Nepal Fact Check on the same day confirmed that The New York Times had never published any such report.

Reflecting on these recurring events, Niraula emphasised that Nepali public attitudes towards women in politics have seen little progress over the years. “Hisila Yami’s long political contribution was overshadowed by unverified criticism,” said Niraula. “The mindset remains unchanged today.”

Gautam concurred, noting that gender stereotypes remain entrenched across generations. “Even among the younger Gen Z, the perspective towards women remains largely unchanged,” said Gautam. “What seems like political satire on the surface actually reinforces the idea that women lack intellect.”

Pyakuryal highlighted that the current situation was partly caused by modern political branding strategies, which blur the boundary between private and public life. “Earlier politicians maintained a clear distinction between their personal lives and public duties. The current generation blurs this line in pursuit of political branding, making it difficult to separate private roles from public accountability,” said Pyakuryal. She observed that the campaign video recorded by [Minister] Sasmit reflected a clear gender hierarchy.

“In those videos, Sasmit positioned himself as the knowledgeable figure while using Susmita to ask the questions,” said Pyakuryal. “She was portrayed as someone who needed explanation rather than an expert in her own right. Had she been presented as a strong, informed figure taking a decisive stance, social media users might not have targeted her in this manner.”

Pyakuryal argued that the presentation ultimately exposed Susmita to dual vulnerability. “Susmita has become a double victim of patriarchy. On one hand, her image was used in a subordinate role for political branding. On the other hand, society’s patriarchal and misogynistic elements leveraged that secondary role to launch personal attacks against her,” she said.